Profile

Gogo Inc. is a provider of in-flight broadband Internet service and other connectivity services for commercial and business aircraft, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. 17 airlines partner with Gogo to provide in-flight WiFi, including British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, Gol linhas aereas, Aeromexico, American Airlines, Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Delta Air Lines, Japan Airlines, JTA, United Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia. Gogo Inc. is a holding company, operating through its two subsidiaries, Gogo LLC and Gogo Business Aviation Inc. . According to Gogo, over 2,500 commercial aircraft and 6,600 business aircraft have been equipped with its onboard Wi-Fi services. The company is also the developer of 2Ku, the new in-flight satellite-based Wi-Fi technology. Gogo began in 1991 in a barbecue restaurant in Denison, Texas, where company founder Jimmy Ray sketched his idea for an affordable telephone system for private airplanes on a paper napkin. John D. Goeken of MCI and Airfone had already invented an automated air-to-ground telephone system in the 1970s, and in 1989 founded In-Flight Phone Corporation as a competitor to GTE Airfone, serving many commercial airline passengers, but not supplying general aviation customers. Through a partnership with cellular providers, Gogo began as Aircell, providing analog-based voice communications on private aircraft in North America. By the late 1990s Gogo had leveraged a satellite-based system to offer voice communication on overseas flights. The next step was to devise a way to bring in-air connectivity to a larger market. In 2006, Gogo was awarded the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's exclusive Air-To-Ground 3 GHz broadband frequency license. In 2008, Gogo made their debut on commercial aircraft.